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Religion Distinctions between Religious and Secular Phenomena? The KEY Questions What is religion and what are the basic features of religions cross-culturally? How do world religions reflect globalization and localization? What are some important aspects of religious change? Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 What is Religion and Magic? Religion attempts to please supernatural forces Frazer Religion serves society by giving it cohesion through shared symbols and rituals – Durkheim Religion is a “projective system” that expresses people’s unconscious thoughts, wishes and worries - Freud Religion offers a “model of life” - Geertz All social and cultural phenomena can be divided into two domains: the ‘sacred’ and the ‘profane’ Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Religion and Society as ‘Models of’ and ‘for’ Each Other Durkheim: Religion was society ‘writ large’. Studied totemism of Australian aboriginals. Each clan had a totem that was considered sacred – Its sacred character was expressed through prohibitions against hunting or eating the totem. Supernatural forces of the totem – Kinship system was exogamous clans. – Parallel in the rules of marriage and the rules on hunting. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Rituals Life-cycle rituals – separation, transition, reintegration Pilgrimage – e.g. Mecca Rituals of reversal – Carnival Sacrifice Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Hinduism Over 80% of all Hindus live in India Incorporates diversity of ways to be Hindu Rich polytheism Key texts: the 4 Vedas Temples range from magnificent buildings to simple canopies Deities range from stones to carvings of gods Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Buddhism Founding figure Siddhartha Gautama Started in India No accepted single text Followers honour Gautama’s teachings Goal is to reach “nirvana” through detachment. Strong tradition of monasticism Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Judaism • High regard for human life • Emphasis on truth telling • Words, both spoken and written are important Christianity • A growing religion in SubSaharan Africa and Indonesia Islam • The youngest religion • Culturally constructed differences exist Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 Directions of Change – Revitalization movements – seek to reconstruct parts of religion threatened by outside forces – Millenarian or millenial movements: Arise in situations of stressful cultural contact, e.g. colonial conquest. Promise ‘a world turned upside down’ Examples: cargo cults of Melanesia, ghost dance of the American plains Charisma and Routinization: (Weber) Most religious movements arise through the actions of a charismatic individual. However, they only become widespread through routinization. Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004 The KEY Questions Revisited What is religion and what are the basic features of religions cross-culturally? How do world religions reflect globalization and localization? What are some important aspects of religious change? Copyright © Pearson Education Canada 2004
